Structural Heart Disease

Structural heart diseases include any issues preventing normal cardiovascular function due to damage or alteration to the anatomical components of the heart. This is caused by aging, advanced atherosclerosis, calcification, tissue degeneration, congenital heart defects and heart failure. The most commonly treated areas are the heart valves, in particular the mitral and aortic valves. These can be replaced through open heart surgery or using cath lab-based transcatheter valves or repairs to eliminate regurgitation due to faulty valve leaflets. This includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Other common procedures include left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion and closing congenital holes in the heart, such as PFO and ASD. A growing area includes transcatheter mitral repair or replacement and transcatheter tricuspid valve repair and replacement.

Treating younger patients with TAVR increases risk of death
Treating patients younger than 65 with TAVR is associated with certain risks for heart teams to consider. Fortunately, researchers found, care teams appear to be choosing patients wisely.
Cardiologist demand is on the rise—can hospitals keep up?
Demand for inpatient and outpatient cardiology services is expected to increase significantly in the next decade, putting hospitals and health systems in a position where they need to plan ahead or risk falling behind.
Self-expanding vs. balloon-expandable TAVR valves: How they compare after 5 years
SOLVE-TAVI focused on the long-term impact of selecting different second-generation transcatheter heart valves and anesthesia strategies for transfemoral TAVR procedures.
New data put a spotlight on troubling TAVR trends
Philippe Genereux, MD, principal investigator of the EARLY TAVR trial, noted that many patients with severe AS still go untreated.
How robotic-assisted mitral valve repair compares to conventional surgery
Costs remain a concern, especially for low-volume centers, but robotic-assisted MV repair is associated with short-term outcomes comparable to more conventional techniques.

Feature: CAD makes headway into CTC with reduced false positives

Using an advanced massive-training artificial neural network, computer-aided detection (CAD) scheme, radiologists were able to improve their polyp detection rate and reduce the number of false positives in CT colonography, based on a study presented at the 2009 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual conference in Chicago.

January 26, 2010

Study: Second-line double-dose beta blocker good for hypertension

Using beta blockers as a second-line drug therapy for hypertension patients can reduce blood pressure by 30 percent, if dosage is doubled, according to research published in the current issue of The Cochrane Library.

January 20, 2010

AIM: Coronary disease risk, not cholesterol, should drive statin use

A strategy of tailoring statin therapy based on patients' overall risk of coronary artery disease events compared with a strategy of targeting cholesterol levels resulted in fewer cardiac events while treating fewer persons with high-dose statin therapy, according to a study published Jan. 19 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

January 19, 2010

FDA: Spiriva not linked with stroke, heart attack risk

Based on a recent review, the FDA announced Jan. 15 that Pfizer/Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Spiriva HandiHaler, a long-acting respiratory treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, does not support an increased risk of stroke, heart attack or death in patients using the medicine.

January 17, 2010

CardiAQ allocates $6.5M for mitral valve implantation research

To clinically investigate its Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation system, CardiAQ Valve Technologies has doled out $6.5 million for research.

January 13, 2010

FDA panel votes down Bystolic as heart failure treatment

The use of nebivolol (Bystolic, Forest Laboratories), an oral beta blocker, to treat hypertension was unanimously vetoed for its use as a treatment for chronic heart failure by the FDAs Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee on Monday.

January 13, 2010

Report: Combo hypertension drugs could provide lower doses, be safer

A fixed-dose combination of two hypertension drugs, like telmisartan (Micardis, Boehringer Ingelheim) and amlodipine (Norvasc, Pfizer) that have a lower dosage than valsartan (Diovan/Tareg, Novartis), would have an estimated gain in patient shares, according to a survey of U.S. and European cardiologists conducted by marketing research firm Decision Resources.

January 12, 2010

JCF: Metformin deemed safe for both diabetes+heart failure

A clinical trial by University of California, Los Angeles researchers has found that metformin (Glucophage, Bristol-Myers Squibb), a drug used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, can be a safe method of treatment for patients with both diabetes and systolic heart failure and may increase survival, according to a study published online Jan. 16 in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.

January 11, 2010

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Health Imaging

Use of AI opportunistic screening in CT for cardiovascular disease

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Health Imaging

New imaging protocols proposed to curb rise of cardiovascular infections

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

Structural Heart Disease

Treating younger patients with TAVR increases risk of death

Cardiologist demand is on the rise—can hospitals keep up?

Self-expanding vs. balloon-expandable TAVR valves: How they compare after 5 years

New data put a spotlight on troubling TAVR trends

How robotic-assisted mitral valve repair compares to conventional surgery

Around the web